Rockies right-handed pitching prospect Riley Pint has retired from baseball at the age of 23, Thomas Harding of MLB.com was among those to relay.
Pint – who at times showed off triple-digit velocity – was the fourth overall pick of the Rockies in 2016, at which point outlets such as MLB.com and Baseball America ranked him as the second-best prospect in his class. BA even wrote then that Pint had a chance to turn into a Justin Verlander-type ace in a best-case scenario, though it did note that there were concerns regarding his control.
The Rockies signed Pint to a $4.8MM bonus after they picked him, but his inability to throw strikes on a consistent basis helped lead to his undoing. Pint walked at least five batters per nine at every minor league level from 2016 through this season, and he ever advanced beyond High-A ball. He’ll wrap up his career with a 5.56 ERA and 8.8 K/9 against 7.2 BB/9 across 166 2/3 frames in the minors.
Rockies assistant general manager of player development Zach Wilson has left the door open for Pint to return, but for now, he’s the latest of their recent high picks to retire early. Fellow righties Mike Nikorak (the 27th pick in 2015) and Robert Tyler (38th in 2016) have also stepped away from the game since 2020.
He never got his chance to become Riley Quart. Dang.
The baseball Life of Riley
Or *gasp* Riley Gallon! Ooof. Not a great look for the org.
I totally read this as “Galloon” and chuckled
I never even heard of this guy. By that, I mean JohnJasoJingleHeimerSchmidt or Riley Pint.
I’m more of a fan of the first one so far.
I love this thread.
Rockies GM position keeps getting less and less appealing. Bad team, tough division, and now an even worse farm. Even thought pint isn’t a huge loss
Not that he’s a huge loss. But still a wasted pick.
Edit:couldn’t delete. Anyone else only able to edit comments and not delete?
Yes everyone using the mobile app.
In my experience, there is no edit NOR delete on iOS mobile app.
Same for Android. Sorry guys for all of my typos.
Most picks turn out to be wasted. It’s a volume game.
Now this is a pun!
I always said that Theo’s genius with Boston was mostly volume. Getting Wagner, a Type A FA, from the NYMs, for almost nothing, was pure genius. It matters less what prospects you choose, and more how many picks you can accumulate.
If I have twice as many picks as you, I can choose from BA’s top-100, and still out-perform most GMs.
This was a chapter in Moneyball. The A’s had seven of the first 39 picks in the 2002 draft mainly because of losing Damon, Giambi, and Isringhausen to free agency.
The A’s focused on college players and picked future major leaguers Swisher, Blanton, and Teahen.
Now, the only free agent compensation is for players that get QOs. It will be interesting to see how the new CBA handles FA compensation.
Thought Steve said mute button replaced it.
Ok, think about what you said.
The Rockies drafted 4th overall.
To pick Riley Pint they passed on:
Bo Bichette, Pete Alonso, Shane Bieber, Zac Gallen. Never mind it was a horrible draft every first round pick was bad except Kyle Lewis.
Her is to you Riley for getting 4 million for nothing
They took a Pint when they could’ve had a Gallen
Ian Anderson is doing just fine from that draft class.
lol.. that’s what you get for drafting a thrower
Right? Nolan, Sandy and Randy who.
must be nice to be so upset about someone else life. grow up
not to hit a guy while he was down, but even at the time that was a terrible pick.
17 misses in 10 games, not bad still. Never getting out of A ball is interesting. Stick with it kid.
I wonder what happened to provoke this… because statistically he’s actually putting together his first decent season thus far in 2021. I realize the walks are still an issue and it’s not like he’s been completely dominating. But he’s got a sub 4.00 ERA, good K/9 numbers and seemed to be on the right track. Whatever the case may be… I hope he takes care of himself and his personal life and then maybe comes back and gives baseball another shot. I just hate seeing guys with such talent never get the chance to really see what could have been!
It’s a solid ERA and strikeout rate, but that home run rate and walk rate is like mixing water and oil.
Those three wild pitches and a hit batter in that few of innings points to, in my opinion, young hitters doing him favors after a long layoff. He was probably due for a big correction.
Have you read Toe Nash’s story?
A wild and ultimately sad story. Unfortunately, that stuff still happens in our “greatest nation in the history of the world.” People totally slipping between the cracks because no one gives a damn. A humbling story for all of us. The ESPN production of his story is easy to track down.
The alleged statutory rape of a 15 year old kind of takes away some of the sting.
Yeah hard to feel bad for someone that molests a child. Call me crazy
What’s happening is he’s a 23 year old pitching against 18-19 year olds in Hi A.
Not a lot of 18-19 year olds in high A. Pint is definitely old for the level considering he was a HS signee but it’s not egregious.
Plenty of college draftees in high A at 22-23+
Denver, Colorado…where a young pitcher’s dreams go to pot.
More like Asheville, North Carolina for Riley Pint.
To be fair, Asheville is just as much a boom box as Colorado
Is boom box the new band box? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
Hey fella calm down. Starting to tick me off
So just me, then? Let’s see, I don’t call a small ballpark a boom box, because I’m not a moron.
Your comment was lame too fella. Both of you are acting like fools. I had some of my comments on this post deleted already. This doesn’t make me want to spend time on this site.
If you understand what someone meant yet respond the way you did its trolling dude. Don’t be a troll. I can find other things to do take my word for that.
Do you think threatening to take your presence elsewhere is some inducement for people to behave like you request?
Don’t let the door hit ya…..
I don’t think you care. But the guys who run this site begging for money and who get paid based on the traffic here. I think they do. World is bigger than just you fella…….
Here’s how this works.
Steve Nebraska mis-typed, or maybe he really didn’t know the difference between a boom box and a band box.
I made a joke about his mistake.
Steve Nebraska went right beyond Triple Dog Dare to the wife card. The only people who can play the wife / husband card are people you’ve known for decades, not anonymous message board dorks.
Have I known Steve Nebraska for decades? No, I have not. Therefore, he gets tagged as a moron.
You decide to stick your nose where it most definitely does not belong, after being shown to be wrong about Pint throughout the thread.
There’s a famous piece of advice. If you’re already in a hole, stop digging. Joel Peterson, it’s time to stop digging.
Please stop Billy. I think Joel is serious about his threat to leave and that might undermine the entire site. He’s got a gun to our heads and you’re pushing him, man
Oh I get it. You’re an indoor cat.
I remember reading about Riley Pint in Jeff Passan’s book The Arm a few years ago. Many interesting stories within its pages – Pint’s included.
Wishing him all the best in his retirement and in the next steps of his professional journey.
I recall Passan talking a lot about him in that book, too, though it’s been years since I read it. At the time, Pint was a high schooler, and the book used him as a focal point to demonstrate the pressure on young pitchers to throw triple digit heat, and the inevitable blowouts of their UCLs
Wow, surprised he retired so young. Not often do you hear of first round picks retiring before they turn 25. But maybe it was just a mental thing. He’s struggled for 5 years, which I know can take a toll on your confidence and overall mental health. Wish him luck in whatever he does now.
That makes both pitchers they drafted in 2016’s first round. Coincidence or something else?
Have one on me, Mr. Pint
I’ll trade you eight Riley Pint rookie cards for one Zac Gallen.
I’ll give you 2 cups for one Pint.
Cup. Hell of a player. Bones made of glass. What could have been.
Curiious how long does a draft pick have to play to keep his draft bonus? 4.8 mil. Not bad.
They wouldn’t even have to play a single game. It’s paid when they sign the contract.
A big difference in money from Brien Taylor’s day.
Not necessarily. Some contracts have clauses for stuff like this. For example, Kyler Murray’s stated he had to play baseball and only baseball. When he went to football, he had to pay back like 95% of his signing bonus.
He’s probably seasoned in after 5 years but that’s not certain. If you don’t fulfill your contract – the team can sue ya for sure and go after atleast part of that money
I don’t think there is a lawsuit here. But what if Pint retired 3 years ago? 4 years ago?
For all the people defending this decision I wonder at what point they wouldn’t defend it. What if he signs his bonus and then retires the next day? Is that cool???
Cool is not the same as legal.
And just because something is legal doesn’t make it ok.
It would be completely ok. The teams draft players knowing the players can quit and keep the bonus. The players sign the contracts knowing that the team controls their rights to play pro baseball in the United States.
Your hypothetical situation has never happened since the draft came into being. The teams still make out like bandits using the draft instead of paying for their labor in a free market.
Dude if teams paid young players more then the old players would get less. Thats long overdue to happen.
Pint is a free agent after this season. I think he sees the writing on the wall and there’s no harm in retiring early. A hungry minor leaguer will get the innings slated to him.
I think it used to be split between the first two years. Maybe that was more for the big money. So if you agreed to 2M, you’d get 1M when you signed and 1M before the start of the next amateur season, or a year after your signing date, or something. But it’s not spread out for long, if it even still is.
I mean, no one has to feel sorry for the Colorado front office/ownership, but you definitely have to feel sorry for the fans. Things are really starting to pile up and there isn’t much light at the end of the tunnel. I even feel sorry for the players, young and old. Story has a ticket out f town, but Blackmon has spent the best years of his career toiling for a franchise that is becoming a punchline. He deserves better, as do all the young players who are trying to make their way to the Show.
It’s really terrible for the game. The fans have supported them well. They must feel double-crossed, as must the players and Bud Black. The bond between Rockies players and fans was genuine. It’s the kind of thing the game so badly needs. Just last year, there was this wonderful Nolan Arenado message to Rockies faithful while the sport was waiting to re-open.
https://www.wtol.com/article/sports/mlb/colorado-rockies/nolan-arenado-sends-message-to-rockies-fans/73-87421b2c-a48d-469d-ac16-ec67466f6b88
They have nothing to complain about…. they’re not the Tigers AND rthey don’t have BigAl ruining, I mean running the team
..no actually, I meant ruining the team.
Blackmon has spent the best years of his career toiling for a franchise that is becoming a punchline
============================================================
Blackmon could’ve simply signed elsewhere.
In fact, BR says he has a $21M player option for 2022. Do you think he will opt back into the punchline, or seek a WS ring elsewhere, for a whole lot less money?
I bet he keeps toiling…..
Toiling? Weren’t they in the playoffs two years in a row recently? There are lots of teams in the last five years that have done that. And I am not counting last year’s “participation trophy” playoffs. I mean real playoffs.
On a night where Ke’Bryan Hayes loses a Major League home run for not touching first base, Bobby Witt Jr. loses a Minor League one for not stepping on home plate. These kids today. They don’t practice the fundy-mentals.
Ya I saw that….the arbiter doesn’t pay for fundy-mentals. I think it was Billy Ripken a couple of weeks ago who said there’s so many fundamental mistakes in every game, they’re really not worth going into anymore. I tend to agree. It’s not just the biggies like Hayes and Witt did, it’s all the missed cutoff guys, hideous base running, etc., etc.
Takes a lot out of the game.
Watching Hayes tonight though, he has an electric bat. Something is amiss in today’s player development. Which brings us back to the Rockies and their pitchers. It seems they’ve been getting it wrong for a long time, even with pitchers who never make it all the way to Coors.
Baserunning mistakes have been happening for thousands of years. In fact, I am pretty sure he knew he missed 1B since it looked like he hesitated for a second, and then maybe hoped the umpire wouldn’t notice.
And the 1B coach could also have called him back. Actually, I believe he could’ve been called back at any time until he crossed HP.
Despite being a Dodger fan, I was rooting for him the rest of the game. He had outstanding at-bats. A nice building block for a team that needs ’em. He can play on my team anytime.
Hayes’ blunder was just a simple mistake, when he saw the ball bounce back onto the field his instinct was to run, in doing so he simply missed the bag. It was a mistake but not such an egregious one
The Rockies signed him to a Pint sized $4.8MM bonus after they picked him, but his inability to throw strikes on a consistent basis helped lead to his undoing.
Always hardest to scout a player’s intangibles including their work ethic and ability to work though difficulties/setbacks especially due to injury.
It is a tough lifestyle that is not for everyone. Especially at the Minor League level. At some point, being a jock might get unfulfilling. Maybe even humiliating. There’s so much more to life.
Bummer. Was hoping down the road to see the epic Pint vs. Martini match up …
Do the Rockies not own a core velocity belt?
He should have requested a trade to the Rays so he might be closing the World Series later this year.
I’m a little surprised to read the comments on this feed. Without a statement being made, we can only speculate.
However, I don’t think calling him a quitter is fair.
He also didn’t steal the money or have to repay the money back.
I’m sure he isn’t going to not work the rest of his life.
Maybe the passion isn’t there anymore.
How many of us spent tens of thousands of dollars on a college degree only to pursue something else in life?
He is 23 and allowed to make informed adult decisions and should not be scrutinized for it.
Does it suck for the Rockies that he retired, not really because his performance has been subpar.
It sucks they drafted him at that slot, but instead of pointing the fingers at the prospect, why not point the fingers at the scouting department for drafting a thrower, not a pitcher that high.
More than anything, give the kid a break, I’m sure this decision wasn’t easy for him make, so let’s support this decision
How many of us announced on live TV we are retiring at age 23. Not a single one here that’s how many. So to pretend like this is a situation you can relate to is kind of ridiculous.
Did he do this on live TV? I haven’t read that anywhere.
So because we can’t relate to his situation, as you state, we can’t sympathize with him and wish him the best?
I guess it’s better to bash a young man than support him. Good for you Joel, I’m sure you’re a blast to hang out with.
Why do you care how or why he did it?
See you in Cooperstown Riley!
……tickets are $24.99.
He needs to watch Talladega Nights to gain inspiration and get back on that mound.
Story fails to mention that he’s also had trouble staying healthy. A couple of his minor-league seasons were mostly lost to injury. I think it was his shoulder but I don’t remember for sure.
So I could see that contributing to the decision if he felt like his arm was never going to get back to 100%.
Kind of a shame. I would think that almost anyone that throws 100 mph would have some trade value. There are some teams out there that regularly turn pitchers around. Someone should trade a C-level prospect to CO, and sign Pint to a 2-year minor league contract to see if different training and techniques can turn him around.
Bard had a 38/43 K/W when Valentine got thru with him. It took Bard 7 years to come back, but Valentine probably did more damage than the CO coaches.did.
Why is it a shame? Why is it so strange to think he is just done with the game at this point in his life? Wish the guy luck or just ignore the story, there is no need second guess his decision.
It’s a shame because he has so much talent.
I use to play with a guy that could hit the ball so hard, that even the best hitters in the league would stand up to watch the guy hit shots that would disappear into the horizon. Great glove at 3rd, and probably threw about as hard as Mike Schmidt.
But the dude was super laid-back, and didn’t even try out for his HS team.
That was his decision, and I respected it, but it was a shame at the same time.
This is why lying to fans about rebuilding with draft picks is such a con when you are a cheap owner. They won’t spend money on players and they won’t spend money on scouts.
Good luck young man! Time to return to school to earn a living! Hope you saved most of your bonus ,not lost to taxes!
This is more an indictment of the Rockies organization. There seems to be a real lack of pitcher development. Guarantee that if he was in Tampa Bay’s system he would be an All-Star by now.
So many Rockies 1st rounders failing and retiring youn
Pint-sized news.
An absolute crap draft at the top. Just ask Mickey Moniak.
Looks like Riley had his 16-ounces of fame.
It is not like he needs to work. 4.8 million is a heck of a lot of dough.
Gallons of talent, pint-sized drive.